Stevens Volleyball Advances To E8 Championship

Stevens Volleyball Advances To E8 Championship

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HOBOKEN, N.J. (NOVEMBER 7, 2015) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team advanced to the Empire 8 Conference Championship finals with a 3-0 win over Elmira College Saturday.
 
The Ducks moved to 22-11, while Elmira fell to 18-14. The scores of the match were 25-15, 25-13, 25-12.
 
Stevens led in every offensive category, outhitting the Soaring Eagles .333-.012, including .000 in both the second and third sets. The Ducks only committed eight attack errors in the three sets, while Elmira had 18 with only 19 kills.
 
After the Soaring Eagles went ahead 9-8, the Ducks took the set over, closing out on a 14-7 run. After the visitors trimmed the gap down to 18-14, Stevens went on a 6-0 run, with sophomore Mckenzie Kingsbury burying two kills. Kingsbury would close the set out with a kill from senior Catie Shelton.
 
Elmira grabbed an early 3-2 lead in the second frame, but it was short-lived, as the Ducks tallied the next three markers, capped off by a double-block from junior Mary Tobin and senior Annemarie Thomas. The Soaring Eagles cut the lead down to 13-11, but Stevens scored 12 of the final 14, with freshman Emily Piekarski recording a pair of service aces.
 
The Ducks never trailed in the third period, jumping out to a 7-0 lead behind the serve of sophomore Sydni Horner. Stevens was able to go a 4-0 spurt in the middle of the set, thanks to four unforced errors by Elmira. An Elmira attack error closed out the match after surviving a pair of match points.
 
Sophomore Brianna Evans led the Ducks with nine kills and eight digs, while Horner had 13 digs. Piekarski had a team-high three service aces, with junior Christina Sciarra recording eight kills and two assists.
 
EC was led by Ashley Heiman , Kelsey Ray , Kelsey Ross and Natalie Schieder  with four kills each. Ross, Schieder and Taylor Kaznowski each finished with a team-high seven digs.
 
The Ducks will take on the winner of Nazareth College and Ithaca College tomorrow at 12 p.m. with the winner gaining the Empire 8 Conference automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.